Orlando, Fl. Police are under scrutiny for current events as are many Departments across our nation. However the simple acts of kindness very often go unnoticed. It takes a citizen like Clyde King of Orlando to write a letter to the Orlando Sentinel to get any attention at all.

July 27, 2015 Ansonia, Ct. Police Officer Michael Castillo responded to a fight in progress call outside the local target Store. Upon his arrival he found a group of kids, not fighting but rather having other problems. After a brief discussion that was witnessed by Faith Bisson Taylor Officer Castillo set about the task of taking corrective measures.

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. an unknown officer was seen talking to a homeless man on August 2, 2015. After exiting his patrol car to talk with the man who is a regular on the street according to Evelyn Ortega who witnessed the incident something noteworthy occurred. She took a moment to capture it with a digital device and uploaded it to her facebook account. Unfortunately, like other good things that Officers do it didn’t go viral.

College Professor of diversity and the negative impact of racial profiling learns the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”

Every day we are bombarded with up to the minute news of racial profiling in the media by Police against one or another race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, political affiliation, age group or preference of one thing or another. It is inescapable from Television, Radio, Facebook, Twitter, protests in public areas, private areas, planned disruptions of events and even people just having a meal.

Should we be paying attention? Are they all real? Can they be like the children’s story of the boy that cried wolf?

Minati Roychoudhuri

Credit: Capital Community College

Some will take any opportunity to further the cause they believe is right to an extent that is counterproductive. While there is no denying that there are real problems that exist in society many people are so caught up in the emotional portion of the problems that they lose focus of what is real and what is perceived.

It is with these people that one of the major problems exists. Not content to deal with the existing problems we face and working toward solutions they literally create problems that never existed for their own gain. Attempting to cry racism and injure others when the event they claimed happened never existed.

It becomes even more serious if the accuser has any credentials at all and uses them in furtherance of perpetuating the false narrative. Let’s take a college level adjunct instructor who teaches “diversity and the negative impact of racial profiling” for instance. Who states that she has now “become a target of the same insidious behavior! It is easy to connect the dots with the nationwide racial profiling which has led to serious consequences.”

Let us say that this same professor demands that an Officer be reprimanded for giving her a ticket Issued her on May 9, 2015 simply because he was racially profiling her. Not that she had done anything wrong, so she wants the ticket dropped and the Officer to suffer permanent professional and personal damage.

Being a professor she would know all the right people to contact and goes straight to the commissioner of public safety who certainly would not want a ‘racial scandal’ plaguing his department under his command.

“The policeman asked me if I could speak English and if I knew why he had stopped me. I said, “yes” to speaking English and “no” to why he had stopped me. He then asked me for my driver’s license and registration. He returned with an envelope and said that I could simply mail in the infraction.

The officer did not give me any reason as to why had stopped me. His asking if I could speak English shows that he had racially profiled me and was not able to give me a concrete reason for stopping me. Further, the officer had checked “Hispanic” in the race category in the infraction ticket. I am a Professor in English at Capital Community College, I teach about diversity and the negative impact of racial profiling, I have now become a target of the same insidious behavior! It is easy to connect the dots with the nationwide racial profiling which has led to serious consequences. I request that my infraction charges be dropped and action be taken against the officer. I have talked with the Senator and Legislator of my constituency regarding this matter and I am sending a copy of this letter to them as well.”

So while maintaining and overseeing twelve (12) troops or barracks across the state along with eighteen (18) divisions, ten (10) bureaus of Criminal Investigations, Three (3) Major Crime Squads, and Four (4) other specialized units the Commissioner must take this citizens complain seriously. The trooper will be under a magnifying glass taking away valuable man hours to solve crimes, protect the citizens of the State and trying to create a better atmosphere between the Citizens and Police.

The chain of command moves quickly in these matters but is a very thick and heavy one, from Commissioner to Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major, Captain, Lieutenant, Master Sergeant, Sergeant to the Trooper.

Each office being informed by subordinate offices and kept in the chain of command, generating information to send back up the line, as a Criminal Investigator is taken from other duties to thoroughly investigate this very serious matter. This is how the process works in every major case and all cases involving Officer Misconduct are treated as serious by professional agencies. It takes time, but the results must be thorough.

So what happens as an end result of this investigation and so many man hours and resources have been put forth into the case? Lets see shall we.

Professor Minati Roychoudhuri of Capital Community College Ct. was pulled over for an unsafe lane change and issues a summons for the infraction.

She writes a letter to the commissioner stating that she was racially profiled, stating that the officer asked her if she spoke English and never explained what the summons was for. In her opinion, which was to be counted as very knowledgeable citing her credentials as a professor in such things as racial profiling she was a victim now and wanted action taken against the Trooper.

The investigation commenced and unbeknownst to her the entire event had been recorded through a dash cam system installed by the State Police in the Troopers Patrol car.

Not only did the Trooper never question her ability to speak English as she had charged, but he fully explained why he pulled her over and why he issued her a summons contrary to her accusations. Lastly she acknowledged to the Trooper that she had in fact committed the violation for which he had issued the summons.

Capital Community College’s professor Minati Roychoudhuri of English, diversity and the negative impact of racial profiling turned herself in on July 28, 2015 after a Warrant For her Arrest was issued for filing a false statement regarding her complaint.

Sadly we have this ‘professor’ teaching in a college to impressionable young adults who believe her because she is supposed to know what she is talking about and the college employs her.

Also it is of note that although the original incident occurred on May 9, 2015 the investigation was not completed until July 28, 2015 and this has yet to be received through the process of the courts which could take quite some time.

Another incident where a Police officer was falsely accused of some ‘racial’ incident, yet media attention or ‘grassroots’ action is scant on the subject. No protests, no denial of services, no looting or rioting, just another day on Patrol.

We must learn that not all complains are valid, nor are they all false. But either way we must not allow ourselves to become so caught up emotionally in these matters that we forget to examine the evidence and rush to judgment.

Most of all we cannot support people who make matters worse by driving wedges between our Communities and the Police who protect and Serve them.

All Officers can take a page from the veteran Officer Charlie Casserly of New Jersey who had two choices. He could stay in his car or he could take 30 minutes and make a difference with a young man that may leave a lifetime of impact.

All Officers can take a page from the veteran Officer Charlie Casserly of New Jersey who had two choices. He could stay in his car or he could take 30 minutes and make a difference with a young man that may leave a lifetime of impact.

“Lashambi B. Moore shared a photo of Officer Charlie Casserly on Martin Luther King Drive with a local teen, wearing khakis a button-down shirt and sweater vest. The teen did not know how to tie his tie and asked Casserly for help.” The NJ.com reported.

“Charlie pulled the patrol car over, got out and spent nearly a half an hour teaching the young man how to tie a tie,” Moore wrote on Facebook. The photo was taken on July 9, just before 10 a.m.

“I only posted it to make others feel good because it made me feel good,” Moore said.

Image Credit: Screenshot

The young man did not know how to tie his tie properly and asked the officer for some help. Casserly who has been on the job for 36 years and is preparing for retirement obliged and helped the young man learn to tie his tie.

It may not sound like much to do but it is a big to do for a few reasons. It certainly is not in any officers job description to tie peoples ties, but in his willingness to just be helpful Casserly is an example for Law Enforcement Officers everywhere.

The young man was also smart enough to ask the right person for help. I doubt that many people would stop on the street to help someone that they don’t know tie their tie for 30 minutes. But during that time we can only imagine that some connection was made between the two people.

The senior Police Officer and young man shared an experience that can be remembered every time the young adult ties his tie for the rest of his life. It can be remembered as a very positive experience of sharing some basic information and social skills that were perhaps second nature to some but in need of by others.

While some other officers may not have been so amiable in assisting him, Casserly did.

If you have served in any community of professionals be it Law Enforcement, Medical, Technology, Media or any other especially ones that serve the public. You always run into people who will tell others “that’s not my job” and go on their way doing only what they need to do. Yet in Law Enforcement many Officers see interaction with the community such as this as just part of their lives, not their jobs.

It would be nice to see more attention given to these acts of kindness where Officers are acting as part of the community rather than how they have been portrayed as villains constantly at odds with the community. Normally the only time White officers are portrayed with Black youths is when something horrible happens.

Why isn’t something like this spread across the news stations and social media as much as other stories that are not even true in retrospect? Perhaps because it is simply not news at all. It happens everyday across our Country and by definition is not ‘news worthy’.

Out of the thousands of officers I have known and worked with, I literally only know a handful that have not performed some act of kindness to strangers because they believe they are part of the community and are just trying to make it better.

So to the officers who read this, what can you do today to help your community? Coach a softball team? Buy a small group of kids an ice cream on a hot day and share a few moments with them? Sit on a bench with an elderly person who is alone just to be there to talk to them while you are walking your beat? Stop into the businesses in your patrol sector and introduce yourself to the staff just to ask how their day is going?

Will you follow the example of Officer Casserly and take 30 minutes out of your day when you can to help a young man tie his tie just because it is the community you are part of?

Officer Casserly, enjoy your retirement and thank you for helping to create positive “ties” with the community.

On August 3, 2015 Two Sheriff’s Deputies from San Mateo County, Ca. Dep. Lance Whitted and Dep. Erik Rueppel saved the life of a motorist who may have been under the influence and unable to help himself.
The incident happened in Sunnyvale at the intersection of North Mary Avenue and West Evelyn Avenue around 6;30 P.M. and was caught on film by a person who later posted the video to Youtube.

Everyday Police officers and Deputy Sheriff’s across our nation make connections with the communities that they serve quietly, without any attention. They do it because they want to not because it is in their job description. They do it because helping people is what they want to do not but because someone is looking or or for notoriety.

Credit unknown: Jacksonville Sheriffs Officer

They are people trying to serve and protect their communities under difficult circumstances and it seems that the only time they get any attention is when something goes wrong. Then it is “news worthy” and all officers are judged by that event.

The events that should be noted are like this one where a Jacksonville Sheriffs Deputy helps a child fix his bicycle. Why won’t these acts of kindness where Officers reach out to the community ever go viral yet incidents that never really happened can spark entire movements of outrage and division?

If a movement is to take place, let it be one of cooperation, understanding and trust built upon small acts of kindness that happen everywhere yet have gone without notice. Spread the word!